Bankers on both sides of the Atlantic are busy explaining themselves. In Congress, the big cheeses of Wall Street are before the House Financial Services Committee. In Westminster, the survivors of British commercial banking are witnesses in the second day of the Treasury select committee hearings. Sadly, that is where the similarity ends.

For all the talk of apologies, the contrition by British bankers has been qualified. As our wordgraph shows, sorry was actually not heard very much during the first hearing yesterday. The survivors appearing today were even less apologetic. Since many of them have not (yet) taken public money, their main priority seems to be to make sure they are not tarred with the same brush.

The contrast with Wall Street's fallen titans is stark. Vikram Pandit, chief executive of Citigroup, summed up the mood: "I get the new reality and I will make sure Citi gets it as well". There is a world of difference between talk and action, of course, but even John Mack of Morgan Stanley was adopting a respectful tone.

Sadly, there is more to be respectful of. The US representatives were informed and incisive. The Treasury select committee was back to its worst today: John McFall struggled to recognise the difference between retail and investment banks when tackling Eric Daniels on bonuses. He failed to realise the Bank of England had expressly forbidden banks from discussing how much they had drawn on the Special Liquidity Scheme. And they all failed to nail the bankers on the crucial question of tax avoidance.